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The Iowa City Public Library is pleased to present our favorite reads of 2018!

Employees were asked to submit the titles they read and loved this year with all nominations divided into 10 categories: fiction; young adult; children’s – babies through 2nd grade; children’s – 3rd through 6th grades; romance; mystery and thriller; science fiction/fantasy; autobiography/biography/memoir; non-fiction; and graphic novel. The only rule was that the book had to be released in 2018. Any book that was nominated by more than one staff member made our 2018 Best of the Best list.

We’ll share our Best of the Best list on the last day of 2018. Until then, here are the Library’s top fiction books for 2018. Keep checking back to see what made the cut in our other categories.

“When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.” — Kathleen Kelly, You’ve Got Mail

We salute all the amazing children’s book writers and illustrators who enrich our lives with their stories. Today, we share with you the children’s book titles that grabbed our attention — and imaginations — in 2017.

Pup and Bear by Kate Banks

A Christmas for Bear by Bonny Becker

See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin

City Moon by Rachael Cole

Big Cat Little Cat by Elisha Cooper

The Wearle (Erth Dragons No. 1) by Chris d’Lacey

Windows by Julia Denos

Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers

Baabwaa and Wooliam: A Tale of Literacy, Dental Hygiene, and Friendship by David Elliott

The Iowa City Public Library is pleased to present our favorite reads of 2017.

Employees were asked to submit the titles they read and loved this year with all nominations divided into eight categories: fiction, young adult, children’s, mystery, science fiction/fantasy, autobiography/biography/memoir, non-fiction, and graphic novel. The only rule was that the book had to be released in 2017. Any book that was nominated by more than one staff member made our 2017 Best of the Best list.

We’ll share our Best of the Best list on the last day of 2017. Until then, here are the Library’s top fiction books for 2017. Keep checking back to see what made the cut in our other categories.

ICPL BEST FICTION BOOKS OF 2017

The Address by Fiona Davis

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay

Not a Sound by Heather Gudenkauf

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson

The Good People by Hannah Kent

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

Everything You Want Me to Be by Mindy Mejia

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

Lincoln at the Bardo by George Saunders

Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck

The World to Come by Jim Shepard

Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (published in Britain in 2016; released in US in May of 2017)

Staff members nominated more than 100 books released in 2016 as their favorite reads of the year. Those that made this list were nominated by more than one person, which truly makes them the Best of the Best.

Two graphic novels tied for the title of Most Recommended Book in 2016:

Forget everything you know about Snow White, as Matt Phelan’s illustrated take on this classic tale takes place in New Your City in the 1920s. Samantha White is back after being sent away by her cruel stepmother, the Queen of Follies. Her father, the King of Wall Street, survived the stock market crash only to die from a strange and sudden death. However, that’s not the only mystery Samantha and her “protectors” — seven street urchins — face in what critics have called “a stunning, genre-bending graphic novel.”

In Raina Telgemeier’s Ghost, Catrina and her family have moved to the coast of Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn’t happy about leaving her friends, but as she and Maya explore their new home, a neighbor shares a secret: there are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Called a “can’t miss addition to middle school graphic novel shelves,” Telgemeier’s latest has been praised for “bold colors, superior visual storytelling” by Kirkus Reviews.

Young adult titles used to dominate our Best of the Best book list. In fact, our most recommended books of 2012 and 2013 were YA titles: Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park in 2013 and John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars in 2012.

Will it happen again?

You need to check back on December 31 when we release our Top Picks of 2016 in all genres. For now, check out the young adult titles staff members enjoyed.

ICPL’s BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOKS OF 2016

Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Cherry by Lindsey Rosin

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach

P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

Have you explored our young adult collection? It’s on the Library’s second floor!

ICPL staff combed through their 2016 reading logs to select the books they loved for our annual end-of-the-year Staff Top Picks lists.

The nominations were divided into eight categories: fiction; young adult; children’s; mystery; science fiction/fantasy; biography/memoir; nonfiction; and graphic novels. The only rule was that the book had to be released in 2016; books released in hardback in 2014 and paperback in 2015 were disqualified. Any book that was nominated by more than one staff member made our 2016 Best of the Best list.

Staff members nominated more than 100 books released in 2015 as their favorite reads of the year. Those that made this list were nominated by more than one person, which truly makes them the Best of the Best.

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (fiction)

Descent by Tim Johnston (fiction)

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy (young adult)

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (young adult)

Simon’s New Bed by Christian Trimmer (children’s)

The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Winfield Martin (children’s)

The Princess and the Pony by Kate Beaton (children’s)

Waiting by Kevin Henkes (children’s)

The Cottage in the Woods by Katherine Coville (children’s)

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley (children’s)

Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate (children’s)

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (mystery)

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (science fiction/fantasy)

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson (autobiography/biography/memoir)

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling (autobiography/biography/memoir)

Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon (autobiography/biography/memoir)

On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sacks (autobiography/biography/memoir)

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari (nonfiction)

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (nonfiction)

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson (nonfiction)

Allplegate’s Crenshaw tells the story of Jackson, a young boy whose family has fallen on hard times. With no money for rent and very little for food, Jackson, his parents, his little sister and their dog may have to live in their minivan — again. Jackson’s imaginary friend, a large cat named Crenshaw, wants to help, but is he enough to save a family from losing everything?

Publishers Weekly calls the book “accessible” and “moving” and “… demonstrates how the creative resilience of a child’s mind can soften difficult situations, while exploring the intersection of imagination and truth.” Children’s Librarian Morgan Reeves says Crenshaw is the book she has recommended the most to readers of all ages since its release in September of 2015.

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania tells the story of a historical event many people think they know, but don’t: the sinking of the Lusitania during WWI.

The luxury ocean liner sailed out of New York en route to Liverpool in 1915, just as WWI was entering its tenth month. Though Germany has declared the seas around Britain a war zone, Captain William Thomas Turner had faith in “the gentlemanly structures of warfare” that had kept civilian ships safe in the past. What follows is one of the greatest tragedies of maritime history. “It’s the other Titanic, the story of a mighty ship sunk not by the grandeur of nature but by the grimness of man,” Hampton Sides writes in his review for The New York Times.

Did your favorite read of 2015 make our list?

If you are looking for more great reads, here are the links to our Best of the Best lists for 2014,2013 and 2012.

Once again, ICPL staff have combed through their 2015 reading logs to select the books they especially loved for our end-of-the-year Staff Top Picks lists.

The nominations were divided into eight categories: fiction; young adult; children’s; mystery; science fiction/fantasy; biography/memoir; nonfiction; and graphic novels. The only rule was that the book had to be released in 2015; books released in hardback in 2014 and paperback in 2015 were disqualified. Any book that was nominated by more than one staff member made our 2015 Best of the Best list.

We’ll share our 2015 Best of the Best titles on the last day of the year. Until then, here are the Library’s picks for top fiction books for 2015. Keep checking back to see what made the cut in our other categories.

ICPL’s BEST FICTION BOOKS OF 2015

Finders Keepers by Stephen King

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

The Turner House by Angela Flournoy

The Whites by Harry Brandt

Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig

Descent by Tim Johnston

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

Get in Trouble: Stories by Kelly Link

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews*

* This title had a limited release in 2014. It wasn’t available at the Library until 2015, which is why it’s included on our list.